How I Found You:
by SnivyPro18
Summary: Freedom... Such a simple word, yet it brings great joy and peace to those within it's grasp. Those who have it drift along, happily enjoying life, completely unaware of how difficult it is to maintain. For a word, I suppose you could think of letters and a writer. My kingdom is such a writer, in a way, and freedom is the word...at least for those outside of the walls... -V
1. Chapter 1: Valerie

_**How I Found You:**_

* * *

Freedom... Such a simple word, yet it brings great joy and peace to those within it's grasp. Those who have it drift along, happily enjoying life, completely unaware of how difficult it is to maintain. For a word, I suppose you could think of letters and a writer, the writer combining them respectively to form meaning. My kingdom is such a writer, in a way, and freedom is the word...at least for those outside of the walls...the walls of the castle within which my parents so stubbornly confine me. Freedom? Me? They tell me I have it... They say I can do whatever I want, so long as I stay here... I've become very familiar with the fact that I know very little about the outside world...besides those little facts that can be read out of a text book...but again those are just words. They cannot compare to the real thing. Just like "freedom", which is nothing but a collection of letters, randomly arranged on a page or voiced, unless its meaning is provided. So no, I do not have freedom. I cannot "do whatever I want". What I want is to go out and see the world... My parents have prevented that, and by doing so, they have prevented my freedom...

* * *

I sat on my bed, staring out the window of my room and down at the world below. It was raining, so there wasn't anyone out at the moment, but I still couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be out there...not in the rain of course. I hate being wet... But still, I couldn't help but imagine what it'd be like to walk outside the walls of the castle. To travel and see the sights of the world. To have an adventure. Just thinking about it gave me chills, but one big question still stood. Would it ever happen?

I sighed and turned away from the window, closing the shutters as I did so. It took some effort considering the window's size, but I managed. I paused and looked over the entirety of my room. The room itself was huge, with one big, triangular window that I had previously closed. Several dressers lined the walls in various locations around the room. I'd be lying to say that I kept my room clean, so they weren't very organized and accessories were practically flowing out of them. The reason for this? I didn't really care for anything my parents bought me, or rather what they sent other people to buy for me. I only ever wore my pink bow, which featured what looked to be a butterfly positioned on a leafy plant, and my silver heart shaped necklace with an infinity symbol embracing it. Inside the heart pendant was a mystical blue gem. I wore these and nothing else because they were the two things that my parents had given to me themselves. The necklace was a family heirloom, and the bow was the one thing that my parents actually bought for me without sending someone out for them. Now don't get me wrong, I loved my parents, and I saw them quite often, but I wanted nothing to do with their so called "gifts".

Anyway, the walls of my room were painted purple, my favorite color and the color of my eyes. The floors were wooden, polished and waxed to look nice along with the rest of the room. There was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room which surprisingly provided sufficient light for such a large space. My bed was fairly large, with a support beam at each corner to hold up a canopy. The canopy and the covers were both purple, the rest of the bed being just regular brown wood. And finally, we have the gigantic door just across the room from my bed. It was the one thing that I hated about my room. Who would make a door that was just as challenging to open as it was to build?

I tore my eyes away from the door and held the heart pendant of my necklace with my paw. The blue gem in the center reflected the light that shone from the chandelier. I always loved what the pendant so obviously meant. "Eternal love..." I whispered to myself. I had a habit of doing that every time I looked at it. The phrase just had a certain soothing ring to it, and that and the pendant always calmed me down. I closed my eyes. "Hmph! Like I could ever find that!"

I opened them again with a sigh. "So long as I'm confined to this place..."

Suddenly I heard a knocking at the door. "Princess Valerie! Are you awake? If you are, could you come out here please? Your parents would like to see you." I let out a groan as I thought of an answer.

"Ugh, seriously?! If you weren't sure that I was awake, then why would you knock on the door?!" I yelled out, irritated. "And if my parents want me so bad, why don't they come down here and get me themselves? I have way more important things to do."

"Ahem, Ms. Valerie. I believe you were just talking to your pendant again. Am I correct?" I was a bit embarrassed at that. He had actually heard me.

"Ugh, fine. But don't expect me to be happy about it." I gave in as I jumped off of my bed and walked towards the door. As I put my paw on the door, I started muttering to myself. "Pfft. Stupid door!" I struggled to open it, but eventually it swung open and I walked outside. "Ok Clement, did my parents tell you why they wanted to talk to me?" I was a bit annoyed.

Clement was a pikachu, one of the workers here in the castle. He was in charge of waking me up and alerting me in, well, situations like this. He could be a bit obnoxious. "I'm afraid not Ms. Valerie. They said it was urgent and only for you and them to discuss." He explained.

"Ugh, fine. Off you go then." I said to him with a wave of my paw. He tilted his head.

"But Ms. Valerie."

"If it's a family matter, then I don't need you to come with me. Besides, this is my castle. I don't need a chaperone." I said to him as I turned around and walked off. I could faintly hear him mutter something about me being a spoiled brat, but I waved it off as I kept walking.

I do suppose I should say a few things about myself while I'm at it. I am Princess Valerie of the Veralos Kingdom and I am an eevee. My eyes are purple as I mentioned before and I wear my pink bow next to my right ear. My heart shaped necklace is always around my neck. I don't really know why my parents insist on keeping me locked up, but I've been in here as long as I can remember. I am currently seventeen, and on my eighteenth birthday, which is coming up in a month, I'm supposed to be crowned queen. I'm a bit uneasy about doing that though to be honest. I don't really want to just sit around and rule a nation. I want to explore the world.

Anyway, I kept walking down the halls, taking turns here and there to get to where I was going. It was a wonder how anyone could keep from getting lost here. It's like a gigantic, beautiful and expensive maze with thousands of rooms and doors. I don't really understand the reason behind all of the excessive rooms. Maybe it was for guests? But as far as I know, guests rarely came and in small numbers too.

Even I found myself getting lost on my way to my parents' office sometimes. Often I would end up in the dining room or the court yard, which is weird because the court yard is four floors down from the office. Eventually, I found myself standing in front of my parents office, fourth floor, left wing, second door on the right. Another annoyingly huge sized door. This time featuring a knocker, but I often ignored it. My room was on the third floor, yet you'd think my parents would make the trip to wake me up just because they cared. For a moment I sat there, just gazing up at the massive piece of annoying architecture that lie before me. I often thought of it as something that kept my family from me. Sometimes I wished I was normal, just like any other person who lived outside the walls. Who's parents probably paid more attention to them than mine did...

I shook these thoughts away and quickly knocked on the door. "Ugh, I wish these things would just disappear." I muttered as I did so. The door suddenly opened to reveal that no one was behind it. This didn't surprise me at all. See, my mother is an espeon, and she was at the other end of the room, so she most likely used psychic.

"Why hello darling. How did you sleep?" She asked as I walked up to my parents' desk. I mentally rolled my eyes as I approached.

"Well I would've told you if you had actually decided to come wake me up yourself for once." I replied, slightly irritated.

My mother sighed. "I'm sorry honey, but you know why we can't. We have-"

"I know, I know, I know. You have more important things to do. Why should I care?" I interrupted, knowing she'd respond this way.

"But sweetie-"

I just sighed. "Ya know, maybe we should just get on to the reason that you called me up here in the first place. I have other things that I'd rather be doing right now."

My mother just produced a noticeably sad look and tried to continue but my dad stopped her with a sideways glance and a paw to her shoulder. I didn't like to hurt my mom's feelings, really, but her utter disregard for how I feel about this just...I don't know. I looked back over at my mom and she nodded. She knew what I was trying to say without me actually saying it. I was sorry.

"Now, Valerie. We called you up here because there's something important coming up that we wanted to talk to you about." My dad spoke up.

I tilted my head in confusion. "My birthday?"

He just laughed. "No, a different kind of important. And just so you know, nothing is more important that what involves you." ...Ok fine, I had to give him props for that one, but he got lucky. "This involves our visitors from the Kalarios Kingdom. We want you to be on your best behavior for when the rulers and their guests arrive here for a ball we are throwing to welcome them. We are trying to ease the tension between our two kingdoms to prevent conflict."

"So you want me to be civil? Fine, I guess I can pretend." I replied, kind of disinterested. I never really cared for this sort of thing.

My dad tapped on his desk impatiently. "Valerie, this is serious. We want the other kingdom to take us seriously for things to work out between us. International relations are not easy ya'know."

"Fine, fine. Relax Dad, I've got this. I can handle being nice to these people. Besides, it'd be the first time that a lot of people from the outside came here, so maybe I could actually, ya'know, make friends." I replied. As one could probably guess, never being let out of the castle meant never being allowed contact with others my age, so friendship just didn't happen.

I thought I saw a bit of guilt in my parents eyes, but it was probably just my imagination. "Good, because our guests will be here tomorrow morning and we want to make a good impression." My dad said, looking hopeful.

"Yeah well, don't worry. It's not like I'll let you down or anything." I sighed as I walked off. "It's not like to have anything better to do." I said sarcastically.

My mom sighed. "Valerie...You do know that we love you. Right?"

I just stopped where I was and stood there without turning around. I let a few tears fall silently to the floor. "I know. I am very aware of that..." I told them before I pushed the door open again and walked out.

After the door closed behind me, I decided to go and relax in the courtyard so I headed down another mass of hallways, down some stairs, and I eventually ended up in a big room that had a clear view of the sky. This courtyard was the closest thing I had ever come to the outside world, and it was beautiful. There were patches of gracidea flowers everywhere. Trees containing every berry imaginable were located at various locations around the yard. Bushes with beautiful flowers of all colors, shapes and sizes were planted around the trees, and tall hedges lined the walls of the entire room. The sweet aroma that all of the flowers were giving off was always uplifting, which is why I always came here to relax. There was a white bench swing over near the corner of the courtyard. Vines covered in blue and white flowers wrapped all around the support bars and made for a very beautiful display. The grass here never seemed to die.

I walked over to the bench swing and sat down, looking up at the sky and then back down at the flowers. "Hmm...I wonder how the flowers look out there..." I said to myself as I took in the beautiful sights. Coming here not only helped me to relax, it also allowed me to think more clearly.

I often found myself daydreaming about love when staring at these flowers... I don't really know why, but something about them just made me want to create a fantasy. The only true fantasy I wanted was to be free outside the walls and to find someone I could be happy with. But finding love is hard when you can't even set foot outside. But still these flowers gave me hope. It was a wonder how they could do that.

I suddenly felt my eyelids grow heavy as I closed my eyes. I don't know if it was the peaceful tranquility of the courtyard, or the fact that go hadn't gotten much sleep last night, but so drifted off.

* * *

**Dreamscape:**

I was standing at the edge of the gates, looking through the bars to the outside, just staring at the town just beyond them. The sky was orange-ish, signifying a sunset somewhere. I couldn't remember how I had gotten here, all I really knew is that I was alone. I looked up at the bars, putting a paw on one of them. They were cold... That was odd since it was pretty warm outside. Wait... Outside? What was going on?

I looked around, yet I still didn't spot anyone, so I decided to walk back towards the castle to look some more. As it turned out, what I didn't expect smacked me in the face. I had walked right into a clear barrier. It was almost glass-like. I tilted my head sideways as I looked through it, only to jump backwards with an "eep" as I saw someone staring at me on the other side. This person...I had never seen them before. It was a vaporeon with pleading eyes... "W-what?" I asked out loud, wanting an answer to whatever was going on. I looked back over towards the gate to see a lone figure, but I couldn't tell what it was from where I was standing. I was too far to see it clearly, so it looked like a shadow. I let out a small scream and shot around when the vaporeon spoke.

"Chain...Eternal." It said. Something about those words sent a chill down my spine.

"What?" I asked the vaporeon, but I received no answer. Just a strange glance back at the castle. I wanted to say something else, but my vision was slowly growing black. It was then that I noticed that a dark shadow had jumped out of the barrier and right at me. I blacked out.

* * *

**Exit Dreamscape:**

I woke up with a start, panting slightly. My muscles were really tense. "Wh...What kind of nightmare was that?" I asked myself as I tried to calm myself with deep breaths. I looked up at the sky to see that the sun was pretty low on the west side. How long had I slept? It was already getting late, probably some time into the afternoon. I decided to set the dream aside momentarily and go get something to eat from the kitchen. The berries in the tree were all too high for me to reach and I didn't want to mess up the beautiful scenery.

The kitchen was just down the hall from the courtyard, making it easy to find from here. Luckily, there was no one in the kitchen at this time of day, so I had free range of anything that was in there. I walked down the long hall and entered the medium sized room. All around me, there were cabinets and drawers of all kinds, probably containing plates, cups, silver ware, and other kinds of kitchen equipment. There was a square island made out of polished wood in the center of the room with a bowl of berries on it, so I walked over to it, stood carefully on my hind legs, and took a few. My favorite berry has always been the sitrus berry, so I took a couple of those along with an oran berry and went back up to my room.

When I entered my room, I walked over to my bed and plopped down onto it while eating a sitrus berry. I often found myself falling into a routine, and it was boring. At least something interesting had happened today. Too bad it had to be so creepy. Who was that vaporeon anyway? And what was it about what she said that sent a chill down my back? I finished my berry and picked up another one.

I knew that it was probably just some incredibly strange dream that didn't mean anything, but it was still the most interesting thing that had happened to me in a while and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Before I realized it, it was already dark outside. I wasn't particularly tired, but I did promise to be civil tomorrow for the ball, so I decided to call it a night. I then slipped under the covers, closed my eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

**The next morning:**

"Princess Valerie! It's time to get up! You have to get ready for the ball! Hurry up, you mustn't be late!" I was awoken by the annoying voice of Clement shouting at me to get up. I took my pillow and covered my head with it, trying my best to block out the sound.

"Ugh, seriously?! Do ya have to be so loud!? Go away!" I shouted out to him, but he was annoying persistent.

"I'm sorry Ms. Valerie, but I believe you made a commitment. You must honor it and be on time to meet our guests at the opening of the ball. Please do remember that your actions as princess not only reflect on your parents, but the entire kingdom as a whole. Please get ready and meet your parents in the main room." Clement said before leaving. Ugh, thank Arceus.

I got up and jumped off of my bed before walking over to a mirror in the corner of my room. I was always a mess in the morning. I guess I had a habit of rolling around in my sleep. I put my left paw on the small table in front of the mirror for support as I used my right to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I then reached over and grabbed a brush from a basket on the table and began brushing the knots out of my fur. It was a good thing Clement left because this usually took a while and I wasn't particularly in the mood to deal with his annoyingly high pitched voice yelling at me through the door. When I finished brushing myself, I put the brush back in the basket and picked up my bow from the other side of the table. I carefully tied it on near my right ear (I had grown quite good at this after doing it myself every day) before I grabbed my necklace and put it around my neck. Then I went over to the large door, pushed it open with some effort, and headed off to the main room.

The main room is the room that opens on to the path to the gates. It was pretty much the biggest room in the house besides the ballroom. I walked in and met up with my parents in the center of the room. It seemed that the guests hadn't arrived yet.

"Good morning Valerie. I'm sorry we had to get you up early, but you had to be here before our guests arrived. It's better that they see us together." My mother explained. I just sighed.

"Yeah I guess that makes sense, but I still don't know why they couldn't come later." I said just as the doors to the outside opened.

"Well, it looks like your just in time. They're here early as it seems." My dad said as two ninetales and a vulpix walked in followed by about a hundred other guests.

"Wow. That's a lot of pokemon." I said to myself as I looked at the crowd that was being directed into the ballroom by a couple of the castle's workers. The two ninetales and the vulpix continued to approach us however.

"Greetings Laura and Stealth. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Said one of the ninetales before looking at me. "And it's a pleasure to meet you too Princess Valerie. I'm Blitz of the Kalarios Kingdom and this is my wife Blaze along with my son Zach." He introduced politely. These were apparently the royals of the other kingdom that my parents were talking about.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said with a fake smile. I wasn't particularly fascinated in meeting them. Truth is, I really didn't care at the moment. There were actually other people I could talk to and I was excited. Besides, royal business was kind of boring in my eyes.

"Ah yes, well it's a pleasure to meet you as well. Now why don't we let these two get to know each other while we go discuss important matters?" My dad suggested, regarding me and Zach.

"Hmm... Very well. I guess it would be better than dragging them into a conversation they would rather not be a part of. Lead the way." Blitz agreed before the four of the. Walked elsewhere. Zach and I, however, just sat there in a state of awkward silence.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not gonna like what they're discussing?" Zach asked, deciding to break the silence. I looked over at him quickly to see him staring in the direction both of our parents had gone with a frown on his face.

"Uhh, I don't know. Probably because royal business is annoying and they were rather quick to suggest that we not be a part of it. I mean I didn't want to be anyway, but..." I replied, even though his question was clearly rhetorical. He seemed to agree nonetheless.

"Ugh, trust me. My parents are annoying just in themselves." He said as he walked off in the same direction they had gone. This puzzled me slightly.

"Uhh, where are you going?" I asked him out of confusion.

He turned around and looked at me as if it was obvious. "To eves-drop of course. I want to know exactly what they plan to do. You can come with if ya want." He replied before turning around and proceeding. I decided to follow.

After Zach figured out that he had no idea where to go, I put my paw to my face and sighed. "Ya know, you probably should have asked the person who actually lives in this castle to lead you to the office. Stumbling around in restricted areas of the castle without a royal escort can get you arrested by the guards." I said to him as I began to show him the way. He just rolled his eyes.

When we arrived at the office, it seemed that our parents were already in the middle of their conversation. I carefully pushed the door open a crack so we cod listen in.

"Are you sure this is the only way? They're just teenagers." I could hear the voice of my father through the door. Zach and I exchanged confused looks.

"I'm afraid so. Our kingdom's are just too different to unite peacefully in any other way. In order for this to work, Zach and Valerie must marry in front of both of the kingdoms." Said the voice of Blitz. Woah woah woah, wait! WHAT?! Zach and I looked at each other in utter shock.

"No. This is not happening." I said to myself before I opened the door and dashed inside. "Woah woah woah, hold up! There is absolutely no way that is happening!" I shouted at the four of them, quite to their surprise. Zach walked up just as I had finished shouting.

"Valerie? What are you doing listening in on this? We told you to stay in the ball room." My mother asked me in a surprised tone.

"Hey, don't blame me if you were acting so suspicious. If I wasn't going to be included in this conversation, then why did you even tell me they were coming? And seriously? Marriage? That's the best the four of you can come up with?" I shouted. I was furious.

"But Valerie-"

"Well too bad because it's not happening! You four can either come up with something else or Kalarios can leave!" I shouted at them again before flipping around and walking towards the door.

"Ugh, yeah. Consider it a no from me as well. I don't want anything to do with this train wreck." Zach said before he turned around and followed me, the door closing behind us.

Back in the ballroom, I was still a little irritated about the whole situation. "Ugh, how could my parents even agree to such a ridiculous idea? I mean, no offense to you, but we barely know each other and I'm to young to be getting married. Besides, they owe me for keeping me locked up here my whole life." I said to Zach who's tails were currently glowing a bit. I assumed that meant he was irritated.

"Eh, none taken. I agree with you. We're too young and we just met. My parents are foolish and it's easy to see that they came up with the whole thing. It's utterly embarrassing." He replied. He didn't seem to like his parents much. "Anyway, it's likely that we just shut the door on the whole deal. They can't exactly force us to go through with that plan."

I nodded. "Hey do you-" I was about to say something but was cut off when the room suddenly went dark. Everyone in the room besides us gave out surprised screams. "Huh? Hey! What's going on?!" I asked out loud before jumping with an audible "eep" as someone grabbed my paw.

"Woah woah hey. It's ok, it's just me." Said the voice of Zach. I calmed down a bit. "You ok?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine I-" I said before giving out a startled cry as someone grabbed my leg. I was about to ask Zack for help, but the proceeding grunting sound he made told me it was futile. I then began experiencing the feeling of being dragged. What exactly was going on? I was starting to get nervous. "Ugh, hey! Let go of me!" I shouted at whoever had a hold of me before someone else stuffed something into my mouth and bound my arms and legs. They started dragging me again. I didn't know what was going on, but I was scared and helpless. The. It hit me. I was a victim of a freaking kidnapping! I struggled a bit before blacking out.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_

**Hey guys and welcome to my new collaborative fic with ratmaster006, "How I Met You". This story should prove to be a bit different than what you've seen from me in the past, so get ready for the awesomeness to flow. I'm particularly excited for this story, so I hope you like it. To prove that I'm excited, this release has two chapters at once, so enjoy! Also, my next project is to get the next chapter of Imagine out, so expect that soon. :)**

**Valerie: Seriously? Did ya have to let me get kidnapped?**

**Zach: Hey! It's not my fault. I couldn't see if anyone was going to attack me in all of that darkness.**

**Valerie: Ugh, fine. But you owe me.**

**Zach: Pfft. Whatever.**

**Me: Yep. Totally wonderful pair those two make.**

**Valerie and Zach: WE'RE NOT GETTING MARRIED!**

**Me: Ugh, fine! I'll see you next chapter my fine readers. *mutters to self***


	2. Chapter 2: Riptide

_**Author's Note:**_

**Hey guys. Here's chapter two of "How I Met You". This chapter was written by my co-writer, ratmaster006. Hope you enjoy this two chapter release! :)**

**Val: Just get on to the chapter!**

**Me: Ok ok, fine.**

* * *

I pushed through the last of the foliage that was attempting to block my path to the expansive cliff face as I peaked out at the sunset. The jagged rocks that threatened my life with every step I took stuck out like a sore thumb on this breathtaking terrain. At the very top, my prize shone out in front of me like a full moon in the midnight sky. A gem embroidered golden chest that was said to hold the greatest of riches.

I walked over to the chest in front of me. Throughout all my travels, I had never seen something so enticing. It was made of solid gold with engraved carvings of ivy vines, crafted with the finest touch and was beautifully enriched with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. A truly amazing sight that should've contained the greatest of treasures if my sources were correct. A worthy prize for the worlds greatest adventurer and explorer, Riptide the great! Especially after risking my life just getting to this point in the first place.

I placed my paw on top of the chest. I had finally found this great treasure, so why did I feel so empty? So alone? So... isolated? I pushed those thoughts out of my head, this was the treasure I had been searching for since my journey began! I opened the chest only to see... Nothing?! This couldn't be right! As I double checked the chest, an eerie voice seemed to emanate from within it, calling out to me.

"You must break the chains..." It said in a clearly feminine voice that sounded awfully familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on it though. As I tried to remember where I had once heard that voice, the ground beneath me started to shake violently causing parts of the cliff to collapse and my own feet to give out as I fell onto my back. I didn't know what was happening. The earth appeared to be swallowing me up sending me free falling through the air with no landing in sight. I let out a cry before the environment around me changed into a forest and I noticed that I had a surprisingly soft landing and not the painful one I expected when hitting the ground.

"GAH!" A loud squeaky voice shouted from beneath me as I looked around. I remembered now. I looked up and noticed that a branch was hanging off of the small sleeping location that I had chosen for the night. I stood up in my half dazed state before looking down and seeing a zangoose out cold on the ground. I quickly yelped and jumped off of her before shaking myself awake. I spotted four other pokemon, each of them glaring daggers in my direction. One of them, a monferno, stepped forward, pulled out a sabre and swung it at me in a wide arc aimed at my neck. I reacted quickly and ducked before stepping back and twisting my body behind a tree as he swung once again, his sword getting caught in the tough wood as it splintered the bark.

"Calm down dude! It was an accident, I swear!" I shouted at him as he launched a kick at me that I was barely able to sidestep. He pulled the sabre out of the tree with some hefty force, causing wood splinters to litter the ground as he dished out an overhead swing. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance and pulled out the dagger that was attached to my leg by two leather straps. I quickly parried the rushing sabre to my left. Sparks flew into the air as metal clashed with metal. The sabre hit the ground harmlessly as I covered the distance between the two of us in a swift movement and thrust the dagger up to his neck, stopping a few centimeters away from it as he stared at me, his face pale and his eyes filled with surprise and fear.

"I said calm down." I whispered slowly as I pulled the dagger back and quickly sheathed it into the leather strap from whence it came. He dropped his sabre as it shone in the moonlight and took a few slow steps back, obviously glad to be alive after that situation. It was only then that I noticed the other three had surrounded me on all sides, covering any escape route I may have once had, but they all looked apprehensive and wouldn't approach me any further then they already had.

"Okay kid, then please tell us how in the world this was an accident and we might just let you go." The monferno said as he rubbed his neck with a nervous look on his face. I had obviously made an impact on him in that small fight as the glint of fear had not left his eyes since my blade got close enough to end his life.

"I swear I'll explain everything, okay?" I said as I attempted to remember the events of the morning that led up to this moment without doing anything that my captors might think was hostile.

* * *

**Earlier That Morning...**

I slowly opened my eyes to the shining sun hitting my face through the window above me, effectively blinding me for a few pain filled seconds. I quickly shut my eyes and sat up as I attempted to rub out the blotches that were now placed amongst my vision in an annoying manner. The blanket that was covering me was thrown from the bed due to the swift movement of my body. Once my sight recovered, I scooted over to the side of the bed before placing my feet on the ground and standing up. I took a few clumsy steps forward to a small mirror on the wall of the tiny room. I had decided to stay in an inn for the night. This inn was called the Wooded Bond strangely enough and it was just on the outskirts of the small village of Corsair.

I took a look in the mirror and saw the bedraggled form of my face, my eyes drooped and my fur a total mess. I sighed before getting a bucket that was placed in the corner of the small room and producing some water from my paws, letting it stream into the bucket as it slowly fills up. Once it had reached halfway I stopped and put the bucket on the small bedside table I had before wetting down my fur so it wasn't sticking up in odd places. I finished it off by splashing some of the water into my face in an attempt to release me from my tired, dreamlike state. It worked and I shook the water off my face before looking back into the mirror to the my usual handsome self.

My name is Riptide but I prefer to be called Tide over anything else and I am a seventeen year old buizel who has been journeying for over three years now. I am a genuinely nice guy if I do say so myself but apparently I can be somewhat difficult in certain situations. Someone once went far enough to say I needed to learn some humility and laughing at them probably wasn't the smartest of idea's. My big mouth got me into troubling situations multiple times, but my skills in a fight have always gotten me out of them. Before I started my journey I learned a foreign style of combat from my father which included advance unarmed combat and expert skills with daggers and light swords that he had learnt from a far off region. According to him, the warriors of said region are some of the greatest and deadliest in the entire world and gladiatorial fights are a common sport there. I cannot remember the name of the place for the life of me though.

I shook my head as I walked to the oak door that was just at the end of the bed. This room really was too small. I opened it and looked down one side of the building. It only had three other rooms. The other side of the hallway had some stairs going down into the more tavern like area where the villagers would come late at night, get drunk, and make a very loud ruckus throughout most of it. I guess I did join them sometimes though... I walked over to the stairs whilst scratching the back of my neck to get rid of that annoying itch that bed had given me. I guess it was better then sleeping in a cave or under a tree like a usually do but then again that doesn't cost any of my money which I have very little left of now. I walked down the stairs to see the inn keeper, a quilava and quite the looker for her age. She was washing up some tankards from the previous night. Even I myself drank a little too much as I remember stumbling up to bed in the first place, almost collapsing onto the ground a multitude of times along the way.

"Mornin' miss. I'm gonna head on off now." I said as I yawned slightly. She smiled before throwing me a small water skin.

"That's filled with the finest ale I've brewed. Consider it thanks for dealing with those ruffians last night." She mentioned in her toughened accent as she gave me a small grin. I'm most definitely coming back to this place again. I just remembered those three drunkards that were outwardly planning on robbing this place last night. Probably had too much to drink, so I took them out like the trash they were. I wasn't going to let them have their way with her and this place in the slightest.

"Not a problem. Wouldn't have been very manly to ignore them now, would it?" I laughed out slightly before opening the door and waving a goodbye to her. As I walked outside and closed the door, I looked at the sky and noticed it was a gorgeous day. The sun was blazing down and there were very few clouds in the sky. It painted a very pretty picture in my mind for the day as I walked towards the village humming a joyful tune. I walked up to a building with a sign hanging off of it. I couldn't make out what it said since I was unable to read, but only shops have signs like these and it looked like a place to buy food...maybe...possibly...

"Welcome to Henry's fruit and vegetable shop my young friend!" The friendly and joyous voice of the Bibarel behind the wooden counter called out to me with a big smile plastered on his face. Looks like I was right about the food part at least. I walked over to him before I spoke in a cautious tone.

"Can I take eight apples and a couple pears?" I asked him carefully and politely as he nods happily before bringing the fruit over to me. I took out what little money I had left and handed it to him. "This enough for the fruit?" I asked once again as he counted the money before putting it into a small bag and smiling.

"It's a little under but I can manage that discount my young friend. Please enjoy the food and stay safe out there!" He exclaimed joyfully, confusing me slightly. I'm not used to others being friendly to me but the villagers here are mostly nice people from the look of things. First some free ale and now a discount on food. I took the fruit and put it all into the small bag that was strapped to my side along with another empty water skin. I should probably go fill it up in the village's well when I get the chance.

"Thanks, bye then." I said to him before waving a simple goodbye and leaving the shop without another word. I turned towards the cross roads in the town and saw a well just on the edge of the road. I walked over to it and slowly pulled the bucket up, filled with glimmering, cool water. I took a large gulp of water with a refreshed gasp. I then pulled out my water skin and started filling it up with the refreshing liquid. Once the container was full I passed by the inn again. I was here to go to a waterfall with one of the best sights in the area. Apparently the cliffs at the end of the road look out over an entire forest. It's supposed to be very nice near the waterfall but that wasn't my reason for visiting this place at all.

I followed the dirt road up a fairly steep hill for around ten minutes, My legs burnt with the effort until the road ended with a flowing river. The river must've led to the waterfall, so I folowed it. I entered what looked to be a small but dense grouping of trees. This made it difficult to both navigate and traverse so I decide to just jump into the water and swim up. I rushed up the water with nothing on my mind other than the thrill of it crashing against me from behind as the current boosted my current speed along with my rapidly rotating tails. I heard the familiar crashing roar of the waterfall up ahead and I sped up to the point where I was shooting through the water like an arrow through the air. I quickly braced myself before the last of the current plus my speed pushed me far over the edge of the waterfall. There is nothing more exciting than free falling.

"YAHOO!" I screamed as I spread my arms and legs in an attempt to catch some wind and slow down slightly. The wind rushed past my body as I glanced down. There was a large pool where the waterfall ended and that was my target. I twisted my body downwards into a nose dive as I picked up speed, the water below quickly approaching as I fell at unbelievable speeds. I quickly forced my paw forward in preparation for hitting the water because at the speed I was falling at it wouldn't be any different than hitting solid rock. My paw started to glow as I touched the water, the energy on my palm exploding outwards, firing water in every direction and slowing my fall as I crashed into it, forcing me into the depths of the pool. I quickly recovered my bearings and swam towards the surface, breaking it quickly.

"WOOO!" I screamed out as I threw my fist into the air, the thrill of the fall raging throughout my body. I loved these locations. They were perfect for a nose dive from a massive 50 or so meters. I quickly swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out before shaking the water out of my fur. I took this chance to look back at the cliffs, a massive grin plastered on my face. After a few more seconds the grin disappeared as I realized I had absolutely no way of getting back up to the village.

"You complete idiot!" I yell at myself, face palming out of annoyance. What I didn't realize was that I still had built up energy flowing within my palm. It exploded against my face and blew me into a tree in an instant, causing massive pain to my head and back.

"YOW!" I yelped as I smashed into the tough tree. I shook my head as I commented on my stupidity again, a small headache appearing due to the impact. Wonderful. I start walking through the forest as the time went by in a flash. Whether this was due to the boring walk or my aching skull I couldn't tell, but it wasn't long till the sun was setting and I was feeling tired. I looked around for a cave or somewhere to sleep with little luck. I shook my head as I looked at the tree next to me. I guess I had no choice. I quickly climbed onto one of the broader lower branches that I knew could support my weight and relaxed, letting the dreams come to me as I slowly fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

**End Flashback:**

"So that's what happened okay? I know I'm a bit of an idiot but nothing worth killing me over right?" I laughed out nervously as the monferno looked at me incredulously. He shook his head and took some steps back before laughing slightly.

"Say again! You force palmed yourself in the face!" He continues to laugh at me along with the others in his group. From what I could tell there was a fraxure, a mightyena and a scyther with him, not counting the unconscious zangoose that was still napping peacefully on the ground... Now that I think about it there was something strange on the mightyena's back.

"Well, I'm going to be off now." I said, walking to the space between the monferno and mightyena. It was then that I noticed that the thing on the mightyena's back was an unconscious Eevee. Was it one of their friends who'd had an accidental fall? On closer inspection, the bound limbs and gag said otherwise. My face instantly contorted into a look of pure rage.

"Why'd you stop? Just go would ya!?" The mightyena shouted at me looking slightly worried.

"Who is she..." I said with a deathly silence as the entirety of the group started taking steps away from me.

"She's ours and that's all you need to know." The monferno said. He had his sabre once again and was walking towards me cautiously. Heh, like that was going to help him anyway.

"Yours? Pokemon are not objects... Now I will give you one last chance. WHO IS SHE?!" I bellowed into the monferno's face. I was in front of him in an instant, smashing my glowing palm into his sword hand and forcing him to drop the weapon with a cry of pain. I grabbed him around the throat and pushed him against the tree, cutting off his breathing. He struggled in my grasp before I let him go and punched him in the gut, forcing him to his knee's. The others watched on in horror as no one dared to approach.

"Tell me now and I'll let you live." I said in my own quiet rage, pulling out my dagger and showing off the blade, sharp as the deadliest of swords.

"W-we were h-hired to capture h-h-her! I swear!" He squealed before getting up, pushing me out of the way and dashing off into the forest, tears streaming down his face. I turned to the face the others. I noticed the fraxure charging towards me. I jumped to the side as my mouth glowed in retaliation. I then shot an ice beam into his chest, freezing him solid. The scyther came next as it swung it's deadly blades at me. I dodged one of them and directly blocked the other with my dagger before producing an orb of water in my other hand and smashing it into his face sending him through a tree, knocking it down. He wasn't getting up for some time.

"Want to let her go?" I said, looking at the mortified mightyena. He nodded a response and pulled the eevee off his back before stepping back into the bushes slowly. I noticed that she was slowly regaining consciousness and looked scared about her surroundings. I went over to her before taking the dagger out again, but this just scared her more seeing as she started yelling and thrashing about.

"Stay still would ya! I ain't gonna hurt you! Just need to get the binds off okay?" I said calmly with a small smile. She slowly calmed down and nodded at me to tell me it was fine to continue. I slowly cut through the rope binding her legs using the sharp blade with care. A single mistake and I could cut through the flesh without trying. That was how sharp this blade was. I finished off by untying the gag that stopped her from speaking and throwing it behind me.

"Well missus, it's good to see you're okay so how about a thank you for my services?" I smiled at her as her eyes widened in surprise. Was I really that surprising?

"Watch out!" She shouted at me. I looked at her in confusion before laughing slightly. I just smiled at her kindly as I tried to calm her down.

"Don't worry, nothings going to hurt us." I said just as I felt something smash against the back of my head. White hot pain exploded into my head as I fell to the ground. I slowly turned onto my back and crawled backwards as the mightyena flashed me an evil grin. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the next attack that didn't come. As I opened my eyes, I watched the eevee smash her head into the mightyena with enough force that it sent him reeling backwards. She back flipped through the air and landed gracefully before dashing at him with quick attack, covering the distance between them in seconds before jumping onto his back and using him as a spring board to pounce into the air. She quickly turned downwards and grinned slightly, as if she'd already won. She started spinning as her tail took on a metallic gleam. She then dove down whilst spinning and she smashed her hardened tail into the mightyena's head, sending him crashing into the ground and rebounding upwards, a badly dazed look on his face. She landed carefully before charging up a ball of dark energy and firing it into him at point blank range, sending him crashing through a nearby boulder and rendering him unconscious.

"Now what was that about services?" She asked in a satisfied tone, turning to me. I just looked at her in a dazed way before shaking my head and slowly getting to my feet.

"What... I don't understand. How did they even capture you if you can fight like that?!" I exclaimed in surprise from what I just saw. I was not expecting the damsel in distress to be such a fighter. I steadied myself against a tree and stared at her, trying to judge where she could have learnt a fighting style like that.

"Well you can stop staring at me for one thing." She replied impatiently, not answering my question. "Now then, you can start by telling me where we are. I would think that my savior would have the decency to explain first." The eevee said as she watched me, as if she was judging me as well.

"We're in a forest." I said pretty stupidly, not realizing how idiotic I sounded at that moment.

She sighed. "Well I gathered that much. Maybe I should be a little bit more specific for you. What forest are we currently in?" She asked me as I face-pawed once again, adding to her confusion and probably to my own stupidity.

"I'm not too sure. We're near a village called Corsair though." I said cautiously so I didn't embarrass myself any further than I already had.

"Is there a waterfall flowing from the cliffs near the village in this area?" She asked me once again.

"Yes there is." I replied, trying to keep her from asking too many questions.

"We're somewhere in the Azure woods if I'm not mistaken." She said before looking at me curiously.

"You want something?" I asked her as she continued to look me up and down.

"Are you capable of escorting me to the village? I need to return home as quickly as possible and I may need some help." She asked me as I was standing up getting ready to leave. I wasn't too pleased with having my current objective taken off track but I didn't feel like leaving the little lady to fend for herself either.

"I can manage that much at the least.I don't know which way to go though." I said after accepting her request. I carefully walked around hoping I wasn't injured.

"You do realize we could follow the path they came from right?" She said to me as I stopped moving, turning so I could see the tracks they'd made.

"Oh... Yeah." My face went slightly red as I said this. I couldn't believe I had messed up again.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and not think of you as incompetent just yet." She commented, not really helping me recover from my streak of embarrassing myself.

"Thanks I guess. Follow me and I'll make sure you reach the village unharmed." I said with a confident smile, as I tried to look a little more brave and strong.

"Right..." She muttered quietly, not really believing in me at all.

"Come on, let's try and get back before the new day is up." I said looking at the sky, the reddish light of dawn quickly approaching. Before she was capable of asking me any more questions I took off, following the tracks they had left as she scrambled to keep up with me. I took to following the tracks like an arcanine and we were making good time. I wish that the missus who I was escorting would stop complaining about every little detail though.

"Eww!" She screamed when she stepped in some mud. That high pitched noise really irked me off. She kept trying to shake it off as she hopped forward, ignoring the fact I had stopped.

"Just walk it off would ya?" I asked as I continued walking ahead. It didn't take her long to notice that I had walked ahead and she quickly dashed after me. It wasn't long til the sun had hit midday and I'd decided that a quick break would do us both some good. I sat down under the shade of a tree as she looked at the ground, sitting down slowly.

"So then missus, you hungry?" I asked her as I opened my bag and took a couple apple's out. She looked at them with hungry eyes before looking back at me and taking on the stern expression once more.

"Yes please." She said walking over to me. I handed her a couple of apples as I took my two pears and started chomping down on them. She was sitting down eating her apples slowly and strangely, unlike I'd ever seen someone eat before. I quickly finished both of my pears and stood up. She did the same with her apples before standing up as well.

"Let's keep moving, before the sun goes down." I said in an attempt to get her moving. She sped up as we continued to wander through the forest following the tracks that were pretty darn obvious. For slavers they were pretty stupid leaving all these tracks that anyone could have chosen to follow. I looked towards the sky and noticed that the sun was setting. This forest was much bigger then I previously thought.

"Well missus, this spot'll do for a camp out tonight." I said looking at the small clearing. No prickly bushes or anything obviously dangerous.

"Camping? You mean like sleeping outside? We can't do that. My fur will get all dirty!" She shouted at me as I looked at her blankly. It didn't look like she was going to back down easily.

"What do you suggest we do? Wander the night when it's dark and we're tired? We'd get lost in the dark and we'd be too tired to do much if anything dangerous popped up. This is my life, I have to constantly sleep outdoors and as long as you're with me you don't really have a choice. This is the life of Riptide the Adventurer." At that moment I noticed the smallest of smiles appear on her face before she quickly hid it.

"Adventurer huh..." She twirled her paw around the ground for a couple seconds, trailing up a little dirt before she laid down. I took a seat under a nearby tree and sat against it before grabbing a couple more apples.

"You want some?" I throw her an apple which she catches awkwardly. I started chewing on mine before she decided to start shouting at me once again.

"Well Riptide. I have a small problem with people suddenly throwing food at me!" She yelled as I put my hand up to stop her.

"Tide, not Riptide. I prefer being called Tide." I mentioned before gesturing for her to continue, which she promptly did.

"Well Tide. Next time pass me the food properly or at the least give me prior warning so it doesn't hit the ground or anything." She finished, an annoyed expression plastered on her face.

"You're worried the food would touch the floor? I don't really care anymore just please keep your complaints to yourself miss." I quickly sighed before continuing onward. I quietly let myself calm down.

"Does the missus have a name I can call her by?" I asked her once I'd cooled off slightly. I awaited her answer as she looked directly at me.

"Yes I do, my name is Valerie" She told me with a bit of a faraway expression on her face.

"Well then Val. May I ask where you're going?" As I questioned this I started putting together a small camp fire out of the sticks that littered the ground.

"I'm... Going home and that's all you need to know." She said back to me giving no indication that she was going to change her mind.

"Okay Val, you don't need to tell me." I started rubbing two sticks together in an attempt to light a fire. I was really bad at this.

"Did you just call me Val?" She asked me with a slightly annoyed look.

"Yes I did. It's your name isn't it?" I asked her back as she shook her head quickly.

"My name is Valerie, not Val." She said back as I looked at her blankly.

"Valerie is too long. Val is shorter, catchier and much more suitable for someone traveling with an adventurer like myself." I said back to her in hopes she would change her mind. A glint appeared in her eyes at the mentioning of the word "adventurer" though.

"Fine, I guess you can call me Val. You do realize you're doing that wrong though, right?" She asked, pointing to the two sticks I was rubbing together. I looked at her and she shook her head gently.

"You need to move the first stick down the second one into the pile so the sparks catch it" She told me as I looked at her incredulously.

"Really? It's that simple?" I replied with a small laugh as I attempted her method.


End file.
